An automobile rear body is structured with left and right rear fenders forming an outer side wall of the rear body, left and right inner panels forming an inner wall of the rear body and left and right rear wheel houses covering rear wheels that are secured one another.
Such an automobile rear body structure as disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,234,225 entitled "Rear Reinforcement Structure For Automobile Bodies" issued Nov. 18, 1980, includes a reinforcement member extending in a lengthwise direction of the automobile body above each wheel house. The reinforcement member is attached to the inner panel forming an inner wall of the automobile rear body, whereby a closed cross-section is formed therebetween, so as to improve the rigidity and strength of the automobile rear body.
The reinforcement member is desirably connected to the upper portion of the wheel house so as effectively to distribute external force or road shock transmitted from a rear wheel and its associated suspension to structural elements of the automobile rear body.
In conventional automobile bodies, because rear side walls themselves are insufficient in structural rigidity and strength, external force or road shock from the wheel and its suspension should be transmitted through the reinforcement member and center and rear pillars to partly bear on a top roof so as to be sufficiently distributed. Such conventional automobile bodies, therefore, require center and rear pillars and a top roof which is highly improved in structural rigidity and strength. This requirement leads to some design limitations of the pillars and top roof and their associated structural elements.
Furthermore, incorporating reinforcement members is not always sufficient to provide rear bodies of, in particular, convertible automobiles with high rigidity and strength.